Comfort Under The Stars
by A. Martin
Summary: James is terrified for the constant nightmares which he had the last few days, and he decides looking at the stars will help him. But he doesn't realize his comfort is right next to him. Read and Review!


**Hey again! I haven't been here since I posted the fifth chapter of my Austin &amp; Ally story in Spanish "¿Que Ocurre Contigo?" back in April. But here I am, posting a new one shot. :)**

**Well, t****his was a story for James' birthday but I couldn't finish in that day. I've been writing this for a long time, almost three weeks to be exact. D: Sorry!**

**Okay, this is a Jarlos bromance story, and James angst. Meh. I haven't written James angst since my other story Letting Go back in 2012, and I think it won't be the first time. ;)**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Here we go!**

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Comfort Under The Stars

**I don't own the series and characters of Big Time Rush.**

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James woke up with a start, panting heavily. His body is shaking hard. This is the third time for him to wake up at two of the morning over a nightmare in the past week, and he did not know what to do.

He tried with milk the first time, he got wet almost three hours later. Then he tried with changing up his pillow the second one, a very worst nightmare almost made him fall of the bed out of him.

Nothing seemed to work for him. It is like the nightmare was deep into him and never wants to let go.

He sat there for like five minutes, and then turned around to see Carlos snoring in his own bed. He felt jealous of his roommate for wishing that he could sleep like this. No worries, no nightmares, no problems. Just sleep peacefully like he once did until the nightmares started.

After another five minutes of being there seeing Carlos sleep, he got up from his bed and started to walk through the room carefully to not disturb his best friend in his sleep. Doing successfully and being only with a shirt and pants on, he went to the 2J's door.

He put his shoes on and got out from the apartment silently. The trip down to the lobby was deadly quiet, a little creepy. But tonight James was too caught in his thoughts to be scared. He exited the hotel and started to walk through the Palm Woods Park.

Once he was out of the building, the cool air hit him forcefully in his face, but that did not matter to him at all. He kept walking through the park, breathing deeply and closing his eyes when he finally came to his favorite place.

There is a big tree in that place where its trunk is soft, perfect for someone's back to lay on without being uncomfortable on the grass. Next to the tree there is a not-too-used bench of the park where he sometimes likes to sit.

James sat on the grass under the tree, with his back in the trunk and his eyes looking to the sky. The night looked so beautiful, no clouds covering in it. It is just a really beautiful night to see the stars, and that made James feel a bit better.

But it is not enough, because tears started to appear in the corners of his eyes but he gradually wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt.

He is tired, tired of his nightmares, tired of his worries, tired of everything. Moonlight enlightened his face as the tears fall down his cheeks and this time he did not bother of wiping them.

Since nobody is around, James curled up his legs to his chest and looked back to the stars. He knew he was alone. Or that was what he thought.

XXX

A helmet-headed figure appeared behind the wall. Carlos Garcia was seeing how his best friend James sat down in the tree and hides back in the wall, hoping he did not see him yet.

He had been following him since he heard footsteps exiting the apartment and he was with his helmet on his head and his pajamas, same as James' but with the difference that he has a jacket on and another under his left shoulder, plus a big grey blanket in his other arm.

He wondered what on Earth his friend was doing on in the park when it was nighttime. Worry immediately settled in his stomach seeing him there. Was he hurt? He thought.

He decided to risk and went in direction to his best friend. No matter if James started to run away or stayed after this, but he was not going to leave him right now.

XXX

Suddenly, James heard movement behind him. Panic and fear made him turn his head around very fast, making sure there was no threat.

A short figure became visible in the night, and James realized it was Carlos. He quickly wiped his face with his shirt and turned to see the stars again; waiting for his friend to come.

For some reason, James did not want Carlos to be here with him. Sure he loved Carlos with all his heart, but he wanted to be alone tonight.

"James," Carlos breathed his name. The hazel-eyed boy closed his eyes and tears already started welling up, even when he refused to let them fall in front of his buddy.

Carlos sat down beside him in the tree, lowering the jacket he had in his shoulder to his lap and touching the fabric with his fingers. "What are you doing here? It's freezing," he started.

James swallowed hard, trying to clear his voice. "I was looking at the stars," he answered with a little crack in his voice at the end. He mentally slapped himself for that.

That crack made Carlos frown. "_There's something really wrong,_" he thought. For a start he never saw James shed a tear before or in a vulnerable state as he is right now.

He did not know what to say next, but something in his head hit him, "That sounds cool," he finally said. Carlos was biting his lip at saying this, but he was letting James know that he was not going to leave him anytime soon.

And it seemed to work because James was shaking hard, trying to hide the sadness his face and his body. Besides, he finally realized that he was shivering hard for the coldness in the air.

Carlos noticed this too, so he wrapped the jacket he had in his lap around James carefully so he did not have to move from his position, and kept an arm around his shoulders as well. All the way he was holding the blanket in the ground.

Sensing the arm around him, the hazel-eyed boy just kept looking at the stars. Some clouds were appearing too, so it became a slightly-clouded night. It still looked pretty, but not as good as James wanted and liked to see.

Without noticing, James started to lean his body to the side and put his head onto Carlos' shoulder. His shoulder was soft and strong; and also comforting, something he was expecting coming from his best friend.

Carlos looked down his friend and smiled gently, squeezing his best friend's arm. It is the first time for him to let James lean into him.

The whole reason behind this is it is because it always was all the way around. James comforting Carlos. All the time. So it feels good to pay him back for everything he has done for him for once.

Silence filled between them, until James started talking, "Why are you here?" he asked. He did not want to sound selfish, but he was having a hard time in keeping his emotions in check.

Carlos looked down at his friend with a frown. "I wanted to know what you were doing here in the middle of the night... and freezing," he stated. James did not answer at what his shorter friend told him.

Seconds later the boy dropped his arm around James, defeated. "Maybe I shouldn't have come here," he admitted and he was about to stand up to leave when James grabbed his arm.

As soon as he turned around, he gasped and took his free hand to his mouth when he saw James' eyes welling up with tears. He seriously did not expect that coming. James let out a strangled sob and buried his face in Carlos' chest.

"James, what's wrong? You can tell me. You know you can trust me with anything! You're scaring me!" Carlos was back to his impatient self, and babbling. He seriously was starting to get nervous for the sudden outburst.

James did not hear him as kept sobbing his heart out. Sighing in defeat knowing that his best friend did not hear his pleas; Carlos once again wrapped his arm around him and wrapped the other one to stroke his hair gently.

They stayed in the same position for almost fifteen minutes, until James' heartbreaking sobs turned to tiny hiccups and small sniffles.

"You okay?" Carlos whispered in his ear, but James stayed there resting fully against him, not moving a little bit. He sighed. This is going to be a long night.

XXX

They stayed in the same position for like ten more minutes. Carlos in that moment wrapped the blanket he had brought earlier around the both of them and had his arms around him.

Meanwhile, James was resting against him with his head buried in his best friend's neck. Silence filled again in the air, the clouds were gone and the sky looked once again beautiful. James lifted his head to look at his friend, "I'm sorry," he said.

"Why?" Carlos asked with concern in his voice. He was already worried for the fact that James broke down so hard on him.

James was about to speak but nothing came to his mouth. He put his hands over his face in embarrassment. "It's stupid," he whispered almost inaudible for Carlos to hear, but he did anyway.

"How is it stupid if you are crying?" Carlos asked, tightening his hold around his friend and placing a hand to stroke the side of his face in concern. "Please! I promise I won't tell anyone," he whispered.

James let out a sigh. Why was it so difficult to tell his friend this stupid little nagging thing? It is a stupid nightmare for crying out loud! He can trust in him, but for the first time he felt tongue-tied.

"I just-" he trailed off. Carlos let go the hand off his face but kept his arms around him and squeezed his shoulder, letting him go on talking. "I came here because of a nightmare," he finally said.

After hearing this, Carlos finally understood why James was too upset. He knew that feeling very well. He was the most known out of the four to have nightmares way too often. But it was somewhat weird since James was the less one to have those.

The pretty boy kept on talking, "It's horrible. I've been having those for three nights in a row and..." James stopped when a few tears started falling from his face, "Carlos, I don't know what to do! I tried with everything to get back to sleep but nothing worked! I just don't know what to do anymore!" he sobbed, this time feeling good for let it out.

Carlos instantly tightened his hold again around James and started to rub his back with his left hand. James in another hand buried his face in his friend's chest, sobbing hard.

This time, the silence was filled with James' sobs and Carlos' whispering sweet things in his ears to calm him down. Time passed between them. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, but it did not care for them.

As the time passed by them, ever so suddenly but also hesitantly, James pulled away from Carlos with an embarrassing look on his face. "Sorry," was the only thing he said after looking away from him.

Carlos just shook his head in disagreement, "Don't James. You need it," the Latino boy said back. The pretty boy looked back at his friend, and noticed the sincerity in his words, and nodded his head.

The shorter boy sighed again, pulling the taller one into a one-sided hug as he kept talking, right after said taller boy was about to speak again, "James, you've been here for me almost all the time since we met, but you never shed a tear in front of me. It's weird, but sweet," he confessed.

James started to blush at those words, "I don't mean that you have to do that the whole time, but it feels nice to know you also need me, where you can count on me at times," he finished confessing and chuckled when he saw James blush a bit.

"I didn't know you would be so cheesy, dude. By the way, where did you learn that?" The pretty boy mentioned in a playful manner, still with his cheeks slightly red from earlier.

Carlos laughed, "I learned from the best on speeches," he commented. The two laughed for a little bit more before calming down again and lean back against the trunk of the tree, still hugging each other.

The shorter boy went on talking, "And about your nightmare... you know I know how scaring they are, but there is something you told me once, and never forgot it again," he said and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No matter how scary the nightmares are, they are not real, and you promised to be there for me if they ever came back to my mind," he confessed at the end with a small smile in his face.

At this point, James was blushing hard. Not only because he was ashamed for crying in front of his best friend, also for the fact that Carlos said the same thing he said to him when he has nightmares, and he remembered what he said word by word.

The taller one stared at the younger one, feeling proud and a little overwhelmed of what his friend did to him. "Thank you Carlos... for everything," James finally said, still with a hoarse voice from all the crying he had but with a small smile in his face.

Carlos grinned even more when he saw a genuine smile on his friend's face, and he hugged him again but in a bone-crushing hug, "Anytime James," he said. James, in the other hand, leaned his head against his shoulder as they hugged.

They stayed in that way for some minutes, until James started to close his eyes in exhaustion. "We should go inside," Carlos said and pulled away to stand up from the ground.

James stayed in the ground for some seconds when Carlos pulled out his hand for his friend to take. He did and stood up as well. "Maybe we should sleep in the same bed this night. My bed or yours?" Carlos suddenly asked.

James froze up at first but then laughed really hard at this. Carlos is definitely the best friend he had asked for.

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**After three weeks of writing this, it's finally finished! Whew. About time though.**

**Thanks for reading and leave me reviews!**


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